Holocene diatoms from Xingu river: new records for the Brazilian Amazon and Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT Present study is the floristic survey and the distribution of diatoms observed in two sediment cores of the Xingu river, Pará State, north Brazil, and represents the past ~6,000 cal yr BP. Thirty-eight taxa distributed in twenty genera were recorded, among which five were new records for Brazil and nineteen new for the Brazilian Amazon. The most representative genus based on species number was Gomphonema Ehrenberg with six species. In brief, present new records represent a 75% increase in the total number of records for the Brazilian Amazon, and indicates that this region has not only been poorly investigated, but also suggests that its biodiversity assessment is underestimated. These findings highlight the efficacy of the paleolimnological approach as a tool for assessing biodiversity before the human impacts begin to affect the pristine conditions of the area.

Keywords

• biodiversity
• core
• diatoms
• floristic survey
• paleolimnology